THE BIG WET’S BIG DRY

It’s one of these ‘only-in-Siem-Reap’ experiences.  The monsoon’s big wet has certainly set in over the last few days. The sky is raining, as locals say, almost every day and so it’s amusing to an extent to be a victim of the big bathroom dry, to stare out of the window and see the rain coming down in sheets and then to retire to the bathroom for a shower only to turn on the taps and…bugger, there’s no water. Again.

Perhaps the idea is to emulate some of the local kids and simply abandon the bathroom shower concept, step out the door naked and let mother nature’s shower do the showering. No nasty water bills either.

But for those barang addicted to bathroom showering only, the good news is that local authorities are working on a solution to the domestic water shortage problem which will kick in as early as….2018.

UP, UP AND AWAY

German leisure air carrier Condor will fly direct from Frankfurt to Siem Reap from “winter 2012/13.”  The direct flights to Siem Reap are scheduled weekly, on Fridays, and Condor is the only European carrier to propose a non-stop scheduled frequency to Siem Reap.

The airline will also fly direct from Frankfurt to Yangon every Tuesday.

Condor’s press release, referring to both flights, says, “Thanks to its partnership with Bangkok Airways, passengers will be able to get their boarding pass direct to their final destination.”

Meanwhile, Siem Reap airport got a good rap on the BBC News website on August 24, in a story written by the BBC’s wheelchair bound security correspondent Frank Gardner.

He kicked off the story by writing, “Frequent air travel is part of a BBC security correspondent's job – but flying with a wheelchair is sometimes more difficult than it needs to be.

“Under a dark and thunderous monsoon sky the co-pilot squinted up at the rain. It was falling in sheets.

“Phnom Penh airport in 2008 was rather nonplussed by my wheelchair.

‘There are steps up to the plane,’ said the ground staff apologetically, ‘so how will you get up there?’

“I was rather hoping the airline would have the answer to that one but in the end the solution presented itself in the form of the energetic co-pilot due to fly this turboprop shuttle to Siem Reap and the fabulous temples of Angkor Wat.

‘Hold on,’ he said with a grin, ‘I give you piggyback.’

“This was definitely beyond the call of duty but I was suitably grateful as we grappled our way, in fits of laughter, up the rain-lashed steps with jagged forks of lightning streaking across the Cambodian night sky.”

TEEING UP EXCELLENCE

Angkor Golf Resort, never far from the news, is in the news again having won a Certificate of Excellence 2012 from influential travel review website, Trip Advisor.

Angkor Golf Resort’s general manager Adam Robertson enthused, “This is a fantastic achievement for all involved. Trip Advisor is becoming a massive influence to those travelers who come to visit Siem Reap and it is with delight that we are regarded so highly amongst those discerning golf travelers.”